Insomnia (2002)
[7] In this remake of a Swedish film, an L.A. detective and his partner get loaned out to a town in Alaska where night never falls for half the year. While they're hunting a killer, the detective accidentally kills his…
Zombieland (2009)
[7] A zombie apocalypse road trip movie with amusement park overtones? Oh, hell yeah. With its strong character humor and plenty of sight gags, Zombieland is a joyously exploitative horror comedy that deflects any serious criticism. Jesse Eisenberg and Woody…
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
[6] SPOILER REVIEW. The Next Generation crew go out on a relatively low note, but not a whimper. Aside from the wedding of Riker and Troi early in the film, Nemesis is an uncharacteristically dark entry in the franchise. The…
Revolutionary Road (2008)
[7] Revolutionary Road explores the dark side of marriage, where husband and wife suffocate in the confines of traditional gender roles and start lashing out at one another. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (together again for the first time since…
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
[6] This screwy comedy about top secret military psychics is based (to questionable extent) on truth. While the ramifications of the subject matter is provocative, the film wisely overlooks them to revel in the absurdity of it all. By its…
Batman Begins (2005)
[7] Christopher Nolan successfully reboots the Batman franchise by taking a cue from Bryan Singer (X-Men), who showed the world how much better a comic book movie could be by taking its subject matter seriously. While the approach works for…
The Dark Knight (2008)
[8] Without the burden of exposition, Christopher Nolan (Insomnia, Inception) molds his Batman sequel into a compelling crime drama that probes deep into the frightening psyches of Bob Kane's characters. No Batman movie, or comic book movie for that matter,…
The Experiment (2001)
[8] Twenty men who work menial jobs participate in an 11-day sociological experiment in which they are divided into two groups: prisoners and guards. The prisoners are told they will not have civil rights during the experiment and the guards…
The Shipping News (2001)
[6] Kevin Spacey stars in this Lasse Hallström film based on the Annie Proulx novel about a widower who moves with his young daughter to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to start a new life. Judi Dench plays Spacey's aunt who…
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
[7] John Malkovich stars as renowned German film director F.W. Murnau during the making of the seminal 1922 horror movie, Nosferatu. Willem Dafoe co-stars as enigmatic, creepy-as-shit Max Schreck, who played the vampire in Murnau's classic. But that's just the…